


Flying Foxes

by Seathesilverlining (untilweseeawingshot)



Series: 2093 [4]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Cousins, Family, Gen, Wildlife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28863378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untilweseeawingshot/pseuds/Seathesilverlining
Series: 2093 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2096850
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Flying Foxes

_“What are you doing?”_

Arthur screamed. He actually screamed when the holographic visage of his eldest cousin appeared over his communicator.

“N-nothing! Nothing at all!”

She frowned at him.

“Stop being your dad.”

 _“No.”_ She folded her arms across her chest. _“Tell me what you’re doing or I’ll connect your mom to this call.”_

“I’m not doing anything!”

_“Oh please! You are the least subtle person I know. Your ‘I have a secret’ vibe is visible from the moon.”_

“Well you’re not on the moon, so how would you know?”

Stella glared at him. _“I’m done. Your mother can deal with you.”_

She raised her hand to cut the call.

“No! Wait! Mom will get mad.”

_“This better not be something dangerous.”_

“No promises.”

_“Arthur.”_

“Just wait.”

Arthur walked further into the jungle, and he could see Stella’s concern growing, even when he stopped.

_“What are you doing?”_

“Wait.”

Arthur set his backpack down on the floor and grabbed a tub out of it. The tub opened with a pop and Arthur picked some mango out of it.

_“Arthur…”_

“Trust me.”

Stella frowned again but kept her protests to herself, hand hovering over the other display, should Uncle Scott or Aunt Kayo need to get involved.

Arthur made a couple of clucking noises and then waited a moment and sure enough the canopy of leaves above him rustled and two black shapes appeared.

Stella’s eyes widened.

_“What the fuck?”_

“They’re Insular Flying Fox Bats. I looked them up, they’re probably native to the island but our dad’s never really had chance to explore. I was wandering around a couple of weeks ago and I found one of them on the floor, it must have fallen out of a tree. It wasn’t moving, so I kept my distance, poked it with a stick…”

_“Of course you did…”_

“And it looked at me, didn’t look happy, but it didn’t look healthy either. So I kept coming back and feeding him for a few days until he seemed strong enough to move, and he flew back up into the tree. I thought that was the end of it, until I came back to check after a couple of days and leave some food just in case. Then he came out just as I was about to go, with his friend right behind him. I’ve been coming to feed them every couple of days since.”

As he had been talking he had tossed two more pieces of mango over to the bats and was spreading the rest around the area.

_“Oh, Arthur… As sweet at that is, you know it’s going to have to stop, right? They’re wild animals, not pets, we need to leave them alone.”_

“I know. But it’s just nice, it’s peaceful out here. You’re not going to tell Mom and Dad are you? Or your Mom and Dad.”

Stella looked conflicted, but she quickly settled.

_“No, but I am going to tell Uncle Virgil.”_

“What?! Why?!”

_“Because you’ve been hanging out with wild animals, little cousin. You might need some booster shots.”_

“Are you kidding?”

_“Nope.”_

Arthurs shoulders slumped, and it was his turn to frown.

_“If George was on the island I would tell him instead. But he’s not, so I can’t. Look, Uncle Virgil will be understanding, and he won’t say anything. And if you really want to butter him up, take some photos so he can draw them.”_


End file.
